Better then reality, greater than the imagination
by SkipperSquirt246
Summary: What happens when two girls, with two fiery tempers meet by crazy random happenstance and at first hate each other, but slowly begin to fall for each other? When it shouldn't even be possible? Rated T to be safe, this story came about one night when I should've been sleeping. It occurred to me that Ginny Weasley and Clove would make a good pairing.


There were some times when being friends with a muggle born was great. Whilst I didn't always understand the things that came out of Hermione's mouth, one thing I could understand was a good book.

I sat clutching my book, turning each page, filled with suspense as the next character and the next died. But then, the death I didn't see coming for a while cane and I sat there with tears rolling down my face. Lying there, cradling this book I croaked "don't be dead clove, you can't be" before drifting into a fitful sleep.

Meanwhile somewhere across the sea in Panem.

I struggled in the burly boy's dark arms, screaming for Cato, hoping he'd come to my rescue. "DID YOU KILL HER?" The boy's rough voice screamed in my face. Trembling, I couldn't reply. In his other hand he held a stone. As he raised it, I screamed again. This time, stone met skin. I could feel the blood drip down my forehead. Imagine that, I thought as I fell, the mighty Clove, strongest and youngest victor from district two, killed in battle by a mere rock. I hit the ground with a thud. I heard the boy mumble to Katniss "only this time twelve, for Rue" then scuffling as the Both disappeared. As I faded in and out of consciousness and my world began to grey, I heard the sweetest voice say "Don't be dead Clove, you can't be" before blackening out to the world around me and hearing the faint cannon boom.

I awoke with a jolt into a dark forest. This one, however was different to the one for the hunger games. This one was quiet. Peaceful even. Confused and in pain, I stumbled around, trying to find someone, anyone who could help me out.

After what seemed like hours, I finally decided I'd had enough and collapsed on the ground in front of me, happy to be alive and exhausted. The wound in my head started to bleed some more so I started to rip my shirt to put pressure on the wound when I felt a wet nose in my back. I froze instinctively.

"Fang! Where the bloody hell are ye?" I heard a thick voice yell out.

"Oh there ye are you stupid mutt. And what is this you've found?" I tried to focus on the man, however my eyes were yet to adjust to the dark. "You're not a student." The voice grew suspicious and protective.. I stared at my toes an the tears began to fall. "I don't even know how I got here! I'm meant to be dead! I'm not in Panem...oh god. Cato. And district two. If I'm not there anymore there will be hell to pay" I couldn't help it, I cried harder.

"Now now dear, let's get you to the castle and get you fixed up by Madam Pomfrey okay?" The man took my hand and guided me out of the forest, up the steps and into the most beautiful castle I'd

ever seen. In the giant hall, a wise old man with a long silvery beard greeted us.

"Ah Hagrid, back early I see. And with a young confused lady I see. Lets get her to Madame Pomfrey immediately, she may go into shock." I glanced at this man, Hagrid and stepped back in shock from his stature alone. They taught us many things in two, but how to deal with giants wasn't one of them.

"It's okay" I squeaked, "I should be goi..." "Don't be silly, you'll die out there, it's not safe."

Before I could say anything I was whisked away down some corridors and great by a nice if not irritated lady.

"What do you think you're doing waking me up at three in the morning! Bloody students always getting into..." She stopped, looked down at me about to chide me when.. "Oh! You're not one of mine. Terribly sorry dear, here; have this mug. Drink it down; it'll make you feel better." The cup was filled with a golden liquid that smelled and tasted like honey. In one swallow it was gone. I started feeling incredibly sleepy and the world faded to black again.

When I awoke, I tried to take in my surroundings. The walls were made of grey brick, the beds appeared normal and the windows were wide and arched. The bed was covered in a thick white blanket. None of this made any sense. What was going on? Why am I not laying dead in the forest or in the back of some helicopter, heading back to district two to be looked upon by stone faced family and friends who dare not shed a tear. Where the hell am I?

I was interrupted by my tirade by the abrupt yelling of a girl in red and gold...

 _Ginny_

I was fuming mad. What the bloody hell was that beater's bloody problem, smashing that bludger into Harry after he caught the snitch and won us the game? He had no right!

I stormed through the dark heavy doors of the hospital wing, mouthing off about bloody Slytherins.

"Bloody Slytherins always thinking about themselves. Always bloody stubborn. Sore f...ing losers... I swear to god I'm going to..." I stopped in my tracks.

On a hospital bed was the tiniest girl I had ever seen. Brown matted hair was strewn across the pillow and freckles scattered her face. She was dressed in weird clothing similar to that I had imagined for the book I'd just been reading... But surely...

The girl looked up at me with fierce brown eyes and a bit of a scowl. This puzzled me. What on earth was her problem?

"Earth to Ginny, come in Ginny, over" a hand waved in front of my face pulling me out of my confusion. Snapping out of it, I realised Hermione was beside me. "What's up Ginny? How's Harry?" I couldn't even respond, all I could do was stare at the frowning lost little brunette in front of me. Surely she was hiding some form of softness and compassion behind that scowl?

Hermione's gaze must have followed my own because she gasped a little beside me. "Ginny... I think that's..."

"Clove." I finished her sentence and the girl glared at me, before bolting out of bed and slamming me into the wall behind me.

"You have a problem, little red? Because if you do, I'll come find you in the night and you won't be so lucky, got it?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked a deadly smirk.

And all of a sudden I had no witty come back. It was gone. I looked at Hermione forlornly, pleading with my eyes for her help.

"No, no problem, so why don't you go scowl somewhere else. Like under the Whomping Willow. That'll teach you." Hermione retorted, before grabbing my arm. "C'mon Ginny, we need to find Harry."

"Mmmkay" I mumbled, allowing myself to be dragged away from the girl with the brown hair and the smouldering gaze...

"Miss Granger! Of all the students in this school.. I expected you to be nicest out of everyone to lost children. Don't ever let me catch you speak like that again" "Yes Madame Pomfrey"

By then, we had found Harry. He was out of it, unconscious or asleep. He didn't look too good at all. "What's wrong with him?" "He broke some ribs falling from that great height dear, when the bludger hit him it also gave him a bit of a bang around. He'll be ok, he just needs to rest Ginny dear."

 _Clove_

Well that red head sure had nerve speaking my name and staring at...hang on. How the f..k did she even know my... This is weird. This place. These people. That girl. I need to get out of here. Where the hell even is here?

Looking around the room, I gathered I was in some form of hospital. Most of the beds were empty and neatly made, except for a few that contained students with broken arms wearing odd green or red clothing and one of the beds contained a boy not much older then myself asleep. The firey red head and the rude bushy haired brunette sat in chairs around the bed, not taking their eyes off the boy for a second. This must have been the Harry they spoke of. Harry... such an odd name. A name that died out many years ago in Panem during the war.

The fact that I was in a hospital still did not help my case. The hospital was in a castle. Castles were a thing only heard of in the history books, or so I'd heard. Growing up in District Two, education, or more to the point, knowledge, had never been a major focus for it's inhabitants. From a young age we went off to school to learn how to fight and learn how to kill, to bring our district victory and glory in the Hunger Games. We were taught to become merciless, emotionless, ruthless beings, who could not only kill twenty two kids, but turn on each other as well, all in the name of honour. For the victors, training didn't end there. Victors from our district would then go on to become peacekeepers, men and women feared by citizens, with the objective of keeping law and order. After all, everyone just watched sons and daughters of their district die, you need people to keep the population in line.

Oh no. The Games. I felt myself become sick again. There will be hell to pay. I should be dead. I should be going back to my district to be buried. Cato should be seeking revenge on that Eleven Boy. Bread Boy and Fire Girl should be crossing their lucky stars that they're still alive. Not that they will be for long...

I must have gone pale, because that doctor woman... Pomfrey? I think they called her, came back over with another cup of the golden liquid.

"Drink that down dear, you'll feel better and the colour will come back to your face." Her sweet yet somewhat bitter voice said. "What is it?" I replied, surprised that it worked so well. "You'd rather not know." She replied then wandered off to check some green clad boy's arm that appeared broken in three places. Shrugging, I looked at the golden liquid and gulped it down. Instantly I started to feel the blood rush back to my face.

I noticed the red head get up from her seat and wander from the bed, towards a door two beds down from my own. She slipped inside. Curiosity got the better of me, and figured it might be a bathroom. Getting to my feet I wandered silently over to the door and slipped inside, trying not to disturb the now sleeping brunette, who had carelessly fallen asleep with her head on a stack of books on the bedside table. I'm starting to get the feeling this could be some academy, some boarding school of sorts. But in a castle that looked centuries old? What the actual even?

The door did in fact lead to a bathroom. Unlike most bathrooms at home this one was in a wide open room, with a circular sink in the middle of the room that appeared to be made out of stone, and cubicles either side. I noticed one of the doors was shut and I guessed that's where the red head was. I awkwardly stood there, skimming the room, feeling small and insignificant for the first time in my life, when all of a sudden the door unlocked and the girl walked out of the toilet. She froze when she saw me, wide eyed. I must of intimidated her before when I slammed her against the wall. Good.

I couldn't help but smirk.

"Where am I?" I demanded, my voice finding strength again all of a sudden, the small, insignificant feeling being forgotten.

She stood there. Frozen. Trying to find words.

"WHERE. AM. I?" I said again, starting to get annoyed.

The smallest, sweetest voice responded in what should not of been such a loud voice for someone who was a moment ago terrified. "YOU'RE AT HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY AND HOW YOU'RE EVEN HERE I DON'T EVEN KNOW BECAUSE YOU SHOULDN'T BE, SO DON'T ASK ME."

"Wow. Okay. Relax Little Red. I'm at a school? Of magic? And what do you mean I shouldn't even be here?" I responded, confused.

"What Miss Weasley means, young one... Clove was it?" Came the voice of the wizened old man that I had met earlier. "Is that you're here from another world or land, if not by chance, then some form of magic, that we ourselves will never understand. You awoke in the forest and my guess is, you also came from one in a far off land. Given Miss Weasley's response, she knows a little more then she's letting on, but please don't take your anger out on her. I think the three of us need to sit down and chat, but maybe not in a bathroom. Follow me."

We exited the bathroom, and after a quick word to Madam Pomfrey, we entered a small office attached the hospital. Closing the door behind him, the man motioned for myself and _Miss Weasley_ to sit down on two of three chairs, before perching himself on another.

"Okay my dear girl, what do you last remember before you turned up in our forest?" His voice sounded kind.

"I remember being at the Cornucopia. I'd just caught Katniss after she'd tried to get her supplies. We'd tumbled around on the ground a bit, before I landed on top of her. I...I taunted her for a little while about the girl she failed to save. I was about to kill...no...torture her before I killed her... But then the Eleven Boy came out of no where, smashed my head in with a rock. I fell to the ground and then heard a voice say "Don't be dead Clove, you can't be." Before I blacked out. Woke up in the forest."

While I recounted my story, the bearded, kind old man's eyes shimmered, full of light. The girl just sat that, mouth agape, stunned as to what she'd heard.

"Very well then. And Miss Weasley, I believe you've been reading lately, correct?"

"Yes Sir." She responded. He must have been a teacher, if not head of this school of magic. Magic?

"What were you recently reading? Safe to assume it's not Tom Riddle's diary again?"

"No Sir, not his diary, that's been destroyed. If he had more then one, which I'm sure he wouldn't, I wouldn't have it in my possession. I nearly died, I'm not going through that again Sir." She responded. Nearly died? This little girl? In such a safe place? I was curious, but it could wait.

She quickly added, "No Sir, this book is one of Hermione's books. You know how muggles read for fun and all? Some book series get pretty famous and get made into something called a movie as well if the muggles think they'll make a profit. Silly I know. But anyway, this one's called The Hunger Games and I..."

"The Hunger Games? WHAT THE HELL? That's the name of the competition I was in and now you're telling me I'm some fictional character or something? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE AND WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" I raged, losing my temper. Standing up, I quickly reached for the blade I had strapped to my calf and moved towards the girl in one swift movement before anyone could stop me. Seizing her by the shoulder in one hand, I raised the knife in the other to her throat and gently rested it there. "IF YOU THINK YOU CAN TELL ME I'M NOT REAL WHEN CLEARLY I AM AND HERE'S THE PROOF," I say, tracing the tip of the knife along a vein in her throat. "THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING."

The girl forgot where she was and who she was in company with for a second and fumbled for something in her pocket as I glared her down, knife to her throat. Then all of a sudden she raised what appeared to be a stick and placed it at the bottom of my own.

"WELL THEN SHORT STUFF," She responded, equally annoyed, "IF YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALK INTO MY SCHOOL OUT OF MY BOOK AND THREATEN ME AND HOLD A KNIFE TO MY THROAT you HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING. I COULD EASILY KILL YOU RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU EVEN HAVE THE CHANCE TO SLICE MY THROAT OPEN."

"Clove, Miss Weasley, please calm down. No one will be killing anyone here. Not now, not ever. And I don't think either of you could stand it if you killed the other. Now please, lower the knife, lower your wand and please sit back down. I think I have an explanation."

Sighing, I sheathed the knife back into my calf strap and sunk back into my chair. The red head did the same, but she was still fuming, the anger emanating from her glare.

"Ginny, Clove. What I think has happened is this. That book you were reading? The Hunger Games. Is not a fictional book. What I think it is, is a book that has been written as a log of the events that occurred in what you two know as the 74th Hunger Games. For you to be reading it now, Ginny means that it is detailing events that happened in our past. But for Clove, they are very much her present. You Ginny, reading the book, here at Hogwarts, years after the events have occurred, long after Clove should be dead and buried, reached the part that details her death. Clove said she heard someone say "Please don't be dead." And I assume you said that aloud as you read the book, even though you knew she would die from her injuries. By the simple act of saying those words, when Clove died, she was instead transported into the Forbidden Forest where she woke. And the rest we know. How you did that Ginny, I can't be sure, but given the events in your first year, I think its safe to say you're a very talented, strong witch."

It was my turn to be speechless. It made sense. In a weird way, it made sense. But why the girl had wished me to be alive? That confused me. I looked at the old man, dumbfounded, before looking at the girl confused.

"But why di.." I started, before the old man interrupted.

"I think its time we all went to bed, its been a long day for all of us. Questions can wait until morning. And I'm sure you'll both have a lot you wish to ask each other."

He rose from his chair and exited. The girl and I stared at each other.

"Oh, and Ginny?" The man stuck his head through the door again. She looked up.

"Yes Sir?"

"Congratulations on winning the quidditch match."

He then disappeared. Quidditch?

She looked at me with the same forlorn look she'd given the brunette earlier. "Dumbledore's right, we better get some sleep."

We exited the office and the girl spoke a word or two to Madame Pomfrey, before climbing into the empty bed beside mine. I guess she's spending the night in the hospital too.

I slipped beneath the covers of my bed and my eyes fluttered shut for the first time in what felt like weeks.


End file.
